My mission is to capture authentic, timeless and meaningful moments that will forever enrich your life. You will feel relaxed, confident and playful in front of my lens. You will be touched, thrilled and delighted with your photographs. You will cherish these images and share them with your family and friends for generations. I promise!

My Brief Biography

I was born and raised in Northern California and have spent my whole life living in the San Francisco Bay Area. I graduated from U.C. Berkeley. And I live in my own hometown of Larkspur, California in Marin County. I am just as at home in the vineyards of Napa Valley as I am in the grand ballrooms of San Francisco’s finest hotels. I could live anywhere in the world, and I choose to live, work and play right here.
I was born with a camera in my hand. I’ve always had a special eye—I’ve always seen things a little differently. I have captured the emotions and passions of hundreds and hundreds of weddings in the Napa Valley Wine Country, the Sonoma Valley Wine Country and the San Francisco Bay Area. I know the locations, the vendors, the players . . . this is my turf.

Why I love being a photographer . . .

I am a natural storyteller and I am in love with the human race. I love our faces—we have great faces that tell the story of our lives. I love that our emotions and our passions lie just beneath our skin, hoping, searching, longing for an outlet, for a connection. And I love that our eyes almost always betray us.
I love that no matter what age, what background, we all have our hopes, dreams and goals—conscious and unconscious, secret and boldly proclaimed. We all have our stories, our fears, our disappointments and our triumphs and they are there for all of us to witness if we are awake enough to notice. All these elements combine to make us the most fascinating and most photogenic creatures in the history of the universe. That’s why I am a photographer. That’s why I’ll shoot anybody, any time, for any reason—I am in love with us.

Life is beautiful . . . let’s photograph it!

Why I love Children’s Photography . . .

I am not your ordinary, everyday children’s photographer. I don’t use props, buzzers, clickers or any other tricks to get kids to do my bidding. I am a natural light, lifestyle photographer—a creative photojournalist. I let the kid’s lead the action: I follow them.

I’ve enjoyed much better results with children by trying to genuinely connect with that new human being in the little body. I engage them in the conversation of life. I put my energy into finding common bonds, building trust, being playful and just being real with them. It works!

Children are little people . . . that’s what I love about them. They come equipped with a heart, a mind, a soul and a personality that’s all their own and that’s how I treat them—like people. I work directly with them, to tell their story, capture their essence and co-create something magical.

Besides, what’s not to love? Children are courageous, their eyes are clear, their hearts are open and they are almost always willing to try new things. We adults could learn a lot from them.

As all parents know, children change and grow each and every day—magical moments come and go at breathtaking speed. It’s my job to capture some of these moments before they out grow their current stage and move on to their next stage and their next stage and their next stage.

Before our portrait session, we’ll talk on the phone and discuss what is meaningful to you and your child . . . favorite toys, favorite park, favorite beach, favorite outfit . . . and we’ll go from there. I’ll have a sense of your children even before I meet them.

Why I love wedding photography . . .

I shoot weddings because I am a nut. I have a hard shell on the outside and a soft inner core (please don’t tell my buddies). I’m a closet true romantic, a softy, a pushover—I secretly cry at the movies. What could be more meaningful and more fulfilling than capturing the emotions and moments and telling the story of two people putting it all on the line in front of their family and friends and completely throwing in with each other on the Big Adventure? I can’t think of anything more beautiful or more gutsy. I love it!

Weddings keep me loose. There isn’t time for my perfectionist—control freak--inner critic to interfere with my work. There isn’t time for me to over think my shots. I am forced to trust my instincts and lean on my craft.

I love the challenges. Each wedding presents it’s own unique challenges and possibilities. Each wedding is different, each couple is different, each location is different and everything has to keep moving. Weddings are a blessing!

A true photojournalist wedding photographer . . .

When photographing portraits, I will completely engage with you. But, as a wedding photographer, I virtually disappear. I consciously turn my personality down, way down and let your day unfold naturally, meaningfully. I become a camelion and you loose your awareness of my presence and the presence of my lens. Most of my favorite photographs happen at the exact moment the awareness of the camera disappears.

I am the original natural light, lifestyle, photojournalist, wedding photographer. You will scarcely notice me. I am completely present without drawing attention to myself.

Once again, I follow the action--I do not try to run the show. I am telling your story, chronicling the emotions, people, details and moments on the most important day of your life. I play an important role on the day of your wedding and I take that responsibility very seriously.

Beware of photography geeks . . .

It’s true. Many of us photographers are cold, quiet, stand-offish, scared-y-cat, humorless techno bots—can you think of anybody more dangerous to having a good time?

I am sort of not like that. I am a people person and I have spent most of my life engaged with my fellows. While it’s true that I still sometimes pretend to be almost cool, I’ve gained enough confidence to start embracing my complete goofball “ballroom dancing, vegetable gardening, love going to the opera” side. So with me, you get both—a true people person who is also brave enough to embrace his inner geek.

Life is too short . . .

Life is too short--mine and yours. Please, please please . . . if for some reason my work doesn’t speak to you, doesn’t move you—that’s okay. I will gladly to refer you to any number of accomplished photographers that may suit you better. I am a much happier camper when I surround myself with people who truly appreciate everything that I bring to the table of life (chips, salsa and guacamole).

Life is personal—I like it like that. I have a personality. But, I am not everybody’s sippy cup of apple juice and I don’t want to be. I enjoy my personality and I hope you do too. But, if you don’t, let’s find a photographer for you whose personality you do enjoy.

What to expect from this photographer . . .

Be careful, expectations are dangerous, just like dull photographers. There’s no surer path to disappointment than expectations. But, I’m a riverboat gambler when it comes to the game of life and I like to spin the big wheel.

I want you to have expectations, high expectations. As I said in my mission statement: You will feel relaxed, confident and playful in front of my lens. You will be touched, thrilled and delighted with your photographs. You will cherish these images and share them with your family and friends for generations. I promise! Either you will love your photographs or I will die trying.

Remember, I specialize in photographing people who hate having their picture taken. I’m really good at it. So, if you happen to be a big scared-y-cat, go ahead, call my bluff, bring it on!

My photography guarantee . . .

If for any reason you don’t absolutely love the images that we capture from your portrait session, I will gladly re-shoot the entire portrait session at no extra charge—for real, cross my heart. It’s hasn’t happened yet and I am kind of looking forward to it when it does. I will have a big smile on my face and bells on my toes. I love a challenge.

You hold the key to my photographic immortality . . .

Every artist dreams of leaving a legacy of work that work will live long after they are gone. That’s my dream too—it drives my entire being. And that’s secretly why I kill myself with every portrait session and every wedding that I shoot. I want you to love my work so much that you will pass it on to everybody in your life, and they will pass it on and they will pass it on and so forth. It’s a pretty good plan for immortality, if I do say so myself. Publishers come and go. Museums come and go. Families and family photographs live on forever.

It’s not the camera . . .

It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer . . . that’s as true as it ever was and, just so you know, my cameras and lenses rock.

You are not the subject . . .

We are the subjects—you and I— we are subjected to the beautiful sublime moments that we share together . . . and as we share them, I try to capture some of them so we can relive those moments long after they pass. I don’t hide behind my camera. I use my lens to connect with you, to build a bridge to a relationship with you.

What is a successful photograph . . .

A successful photograph should change us and change how we look at each other and how we experience the world. A photograph is like life--it’s a shared experience. (I love sharing moments . . . I may have peaked in Kindergarten, I also love naps and snacks.)

Left brain, right brain, I can’t remember where I parked my car . . .

As soon I start shooting, my brain shifts into my creative zone, my right brain. I am able to let go of my technical, judgemental brain. I am then able to be with you, and we are free to connect, to share, to relate, to trust and to experience the beauty of each moment . . . the true moment of the moment.

So, please do not be alarmed if I am still in my right brain after our portrait session and I need your help figuring out where I left my gear bag and where I parked my car.

What do with the light that falls on us?

A little about “God Light” . . . God Light, Light of the Great Spirit, Light of the Mother, Light from the Giant Ball of Fire in the Sky . . . it falls on each and every one of us and flows through us. At any given moment we exercise our choices—what we choose to do with that light. Those choices go a long way in defining who we are and what is important to us.

I choose to bask in the “God Light”. I choose share it, reflect it back, photograph it and then share it with others . . . any takers?

I love what I do . . .what is it that I do ?

I absolutely love what I do. I specialize in natural light, on location, lifestyle, creative, photojournalistic photography . . . That is, I usually let my clients lead the action and let God (the Great Spirit, the Mother, the Giant Ball of Fire in the Sky) handle the lighting. Then, I follow, lens in hand. I literally place you in a positive light (on all sorts of levels) . . . and our journey begins from there.

I am trying to capture and communicate who you are. To that end, I usually come to wherever you are most comfortable (your home, your office, your studio) or where you are most inspired (the beach, the park, the city). I also have plenty of incredible locations to suggest if you want to try something new.

A gifted photographer . . .

There, I said it. I consider myself an accomplished and gifted photographer and I’m getting better every day. I am not shy (except at ballroom dance class) and I am not going to hide my gifts—I am going to share them with anybody and everybody who appreciates them. I’d be happy to share them with you and your family.

I believe my biggest gifts are my ability to see light, share the moment and capture what is right in front of me. I do not create my photographs—I capture them, I harvest them.

I am not a gifted photographer because of all of my technical training, I am a gifted photographer in spite of my technical training . . .

San Francisco weddings . . .

San Francisco weddings--it’s hard not to love being wedding photographer in the most beautiful city in the world. The fog, the skylines, the classic hotels, the bay, the bridges, the cable cars, Tony Bennett—talk about shooting fish in barrel. (In fact, I have coined a new phrase that has the exact same meaning but which has yet to impress my friends. Instead of saying, “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel”, I like to say, “It’s like photographing a wedding in San Francisco”—pretty catchy, huh?) San Francisco is an absolutely fabulous wedding location. I love this city !

Outdoor weddings present all sorts of special lighting and weather challenges. I have spent my whole career outside, shooting in natural light and I know how to nail the shots to tell your story. I’ve shot hundreds of large, spectacular wine country weddings. Relax, I know what I am doing!